dagothig's Archive

This time we are kicking the tires with a top down game that you control using Xbox Controllers, where PRINCESSES throw little KNIGHTS they pick up at each other!

I’ll be two player minimum, if we have time one player will be able to use the keyboard, if we have even more time left the will be a computer bot but I doubt hat will happen :P, we started yesterday @ 2pm

Tools:

Adobe Illustrator for most assets
IntelliJ CE for coding Java
libGDX as library
Graddle as build tool
GIMP for small edits

So it is our third Ludum Dare and we usually get quite a lot done until now, but trying to reach the Balmer’s peak kinda slowed us down. Balmer! Your theories are all lies! I blame Balmer with the Schnapps in the Basement.

Anyway here’s a small screen shot for you guy’s out there still debugging collisions and that only have menu to show.

But that’s fine: for this time around, I’m going to shake things up and try up ruby. It’s the very first time I use ruby. Ever. While this is probably gonna bite me hard down the road, that’s all right because I’m taking advantage of the Ludum Dare precisely to get a grip on ruby and learn it a bit.
As for a framework, Gosu will be the poison of choice for this weekend, let’s hope it’s good and mellow.

I’ll be assisted by a few friends, my sister for graphxes (such pretty!) and by my cousin for sound and music (such sound and music! such wow!).

With the 27th Ludum Dare now completed (well, the voting’s just begun, but the games themselves are supposed to be quite done), it’s time for some post-mortem joy!

The game our team made for the jam was 10 Seconds to Insanity, for those curious about it (I mean, it’s pretty slick, you should definitively check it out), here’s a link, as well as video, because god-dangit-I-made-it-so-I-want-people-to-see-it (also, shameless promotion)

Alright, now for some actual thoughts about the Ludum Dare.

What went right:
– Working with familiar languages and libraries ensured that no issues were had regarding the languages itself (by now, we were pretty familiar with Java and Slick, and as such didn’t waste any time learning stuff)
– Rendering in an isometric view, while it demanded more work than a regular view would’ve been, really gave the game charm
– Creating the game’s atmosphere was a blast, especially since we had both access to music and graphics (the best part of being a team, really)
– Having the labyrinth randomly generated really gave the game length and longer-lasting appeal
– The lighting system was easy to implement and a ton of fun to work with

What went wrong:
– Having the labyrinth randomly generated represented a huge workload that took up a significant portion of the time we had
– Having the only programmer with free time on monday night being called away by real life sadly prevented the addition of much-needed sound effects
– Ideas with dubious gameplay implementations proved to be dubious gameplay-wise, while the game was very atmospheric, the gameplay itself left much to be desired

Final thoughts:

Easily the best Ludum Dare that I (the guy writing the post-mortem) was able to participate in, also, I believe this is true for my partners as well

Our jam game has shaped up quite nicely; 10 seconds to insanity, despite some gameplay issues (well, I mean, the mood is the main gameplay element…), the game’s really spooky, and it should be somewhat spookier tomorrow! (I mean, we’ve got some neat ideas coming up)

without further ado, please play it (you will get all the cookies. ALL OF THEM) here

After hours (1) of debating, we’re ready to start (what, the ludum dare started 12 hours ago? blasphemy)! We’re a 3 1/2 man team composed of our fantasmagoric graphist, 2 programmers and a composer who will be called upon in due time. We’ve got an almost original concept that will be developped in java, using Slick (because being dead doesn’t stop it from being handy) and that will be showed more in detail later on.

We are IN (for the jam)! Me and my partner shall be using Java with slick2d, probably some Midi if we ever have time to make music, as for sound, probably some sfxr if possible and for graphx, we’ll be using gimp/photoshop.

Alas! I was able to “finish” my game in time, buts! it is still very unfinished indeed…

All in all, most of the core stuff has been implemented, however, there is no sound, no music, and only a few parts to buy for the ship,
still, there is *some* fun to be had in playing it, it’s just a shame I lost track of theme midway… (partly, this is due to me lacking the time to properly make several parts to buy for the ship and allow customization)

Alas! I was able to “finish” my game in time, buts! it is still very unfinished indeed…Alas! I was able to “finish” my game in time, buts! it is still very unfinished indeed…

All in all, most of the core stuff has been implemented, however, there is no sound, no music, and only a few parts to buy for the ship,ll in all, most of the core stuff has been implemented, however, there is no sound, no music, and only a few parts to buy for the ship,
still, there is *some* fun to be had in playing it, it’s just a shame I lost track of theme midway… (partly, this is due to me lacking the time to properly make several parts to buy for the ship and allow customization)

So, only like 4 hours to go and so much still to implement (mostly, a goal to the game and the main part: ship parts)

but it’s shaping up!

for the curious, I’ve got a dropbox hosting a build of the game here : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/80086733/Home.html
(A and D to move, you need to buy a sail / oars first, you can do that in the shop that you can open with E. F is for fishing and Q is for firing cannons)

however, I have no idea how good dropbox is for this sort of thing, so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.